Touch
by Xekstrin
Summary: Weiss always feels guilty for touching Ruby, is always scared one day she'll take too much.


**OoOoOo**

Though they both had distant fathers and absent mothers, Ruby grew up in a warm and loving environment. Close knit and open with affection, she overcame the initial resistance in order to bring Weiss into that world. There wasn't a very high likelihood that it was intentional, but the end result was the same: she started touching her more.

Whether combing through her ivory hair before bedtime or briefly pressing a kiss to her cheek while zipping down the hallways to their separate classes, Ruby was easy and free with her affection.

Though Weiss was very rarely ever alone, she was often lonely. Even during dinner surrounded by close family friends and her own nuclear unit, conversations were muted and guarded, polite, political, and context-heavy. Her own personality didn't lend itself well to public displays of affection to begin with; her upbringing merely cemented it.

Breath coming out in a fine mist, Weiss was glad for once that Ruby insisted on holding her hand wherever they went. They fit neatly together, warmer than the gloves she had forgotten back at the dorm. Her other hand was busy tapping on her scroll, shooting out a message to her father, texting her sister, and occasionally flicking the tab over to check what news could be gleaned about the attack a few months previously.

Ruby wasn't as vigilant; she swung their hands between them, humming happily under her breath. "So you've really never been to the Solemn Nights before."

She found the name misleading, considering the amount of property destruction that often served as an epilogue to the events. "We have different traditions where I'm from," was Weiss' reply, distant and distracted. "They involve a lot more reverence and lot less burning gigantic Grimm effigies."

"Sounds lame."

"You sound lame." She squeezed her hand, a brief tightened grip to let her know she was kidding. Mostly. Snow crunched underfoot and they wrestled through the worst of it, since most of the street cleaners had taken the day off as well. Her feet would be drenched up to the ankles by the time they made it somewhere warm enough to thaw out. "So what else do the Solemn Nights entail?"

A ripple of excitement vibrated its way down their hands, where skin met skin. "Man, what doesn't it entail? It's basically the most awesome thing ever Weiss I seriously can't believe you've never been to one."

The scroll buzzed in her hands from an incoming call. Seeing Yang's name, Weiss rolled her eyes and ignored it, swiping the screen back to what she had been reading. "Okay."

"Basically, they set up this big Grimm statue right—"

"Right."

"—And then they cover it in tar and stuff so it really looks like a Grimm—"

"Mhm."

"—fireworks too sometimes although I think that's technically illegal, people find ways to sneak them in there anyway and—"

The scroll buzzed again, Yang calling. It barely registered in Weiss' head before she ignored it again, still focused on Ruby's voice as she continued on, listing feasts and fairs and a whole host of activities that bordered on public endangerment.

"—but there was actually one time when Dad and Yang and I entered the ice sculpture competition and he accidentally cut her hair and that was how we were disqualified for two years because she melted half the ice on Patch."

Apparently tired of being shoved aside, Yang settled for a text message.

_look princess if you don't respond i'm just gonna assume you and ruby are too busy frickling back at the dorm to help me set this grimm on fire_

_which i mean you know thats fine, thanks for waiting while blakey and I made ourselves scarce and not waking us up with your wild sex noises at night_

_use protection_

Turning livid, Weiss' thumb nearly shook as she tapped out a few choice responses, deleted them, rephrased them, and then finally settled for calling Yang back and hissing out, "You're disgusting" as soon as she heard the other end pick up.

"Heyyyy, she finally calls back! Incredible. So was I on the money?"

"Ruby and I," she said, feeling ready to fluff up and hiss like a cat, "Are walking to the Solemn Night festival right now, for your information."

"You sure took your sweet time about it." From the other end she could hear static crackle and a strained grunt; Yang was lifting something heavy. "So like can I get an ETA or are you two going to stop in every doorway to make out a little before you get here?"

Beside her, Ruby giggled under her breath. She wished the speakers on these things weren't so loud. "Will you stop it? Ruby's too innocent for me to go around corrupting her like that."

A sharp tug pulled her attention down to the shorter girl, who was giving her a very dark look. "Hey, I am _not_ innocent."

"Yes, you are." Dismissing her for the moment, Weiss returned to Yang. "We'll be there shortly. Try to display some patience for once."

"Okay but if you get here and the turkey's all gone, I don't want to hear you whining."

Yang hung up and Weiss was left to steam for a bit before she pocketed her scroll. "Ugh. Honestly." Giving Ruby's hand a reflexive, angry squeeze, she was surprised when she didn't receive on in return.

Glancing over at Ruby, she saw her expression hadn't lightened any, either.

….Huh.

"I'm really not as naive as you think I am," she groused, lowering her head deeper into her scarf. A few angry puffs escaped the depths, Ruby's dark eyebrows pinching closer together. "It really bugs me when you guys say stuff like that!"

"But," Weiss said, a curious blank space settling down where her brain-to-mouth filter should have been. "It's true?"

"Are you my girlfriend or my babysitter?" she said, wrenching her hand free to cross her arms, picking up the pace. Weiss struggled to keep up, heels clicking on the empty streets; everyone else was probably already near downtown Vale for the festival. A gnawing pit of anxiety began to eat at her again. As much as she complained about Ruby's clinginess and insistence on making physical contact, you would think she wouldn't feel ripped apart at being purposefully denied it.

"Well. Excuse me." Mentally cursing her legs for not being long enough to match Ruby's stride, she tried not to appear too strained by the effort. "Someone's touchy today."

"I'm not touchy," Ruby snapped.

"Yes, you are. And you're punishing me for it, goodness knows why."

"I'm not touchy!" Stopping in her tracks to shoot Weiss a glare, she kept most of her body language pointed away and guarded. "I'm fed up! You keep doing this!"

The anxiety blossomed into full borne panic. _Hold my hand again it's cold I didn't mean to hurt your feelings I'm not even sure what I did but I can fix it I'm nothing if not versatile don't be stupid how dare you be mad over something because you evidently bottled up your feelings instead of being frank with me and it's not my fault how was I supposed to know am I a mind reader I'm a perfect girlfriend but not that perfect but I would have listened to you how dare you take that tone with me you little red—_

"Doing what?" she said, flatly.

A few angry puffs of steam came out between the layers of her scarf before she could collect her thoughts, seeming to tremble with all of them trying to spill at once. "You— I just— you act like I don't know anything or, or want anything, even simple things like— like I'm not— I'm not twelve, you know? I'm only two years younger than the rest of you, and I'm not happy being kept on a weird pedestal!"

Weiss opened her mouth, instinctively ready to argue before she realized she didn't have a counter point. Closing it, she frowned. "…I'm not following."

"Just forget it." Shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her peacoat, Ruby kept walking.

It struck a sour chord in her, and their tension cast a tense edge over the entire night.

Ruby left early.

When Weiss eventually went after her, it was only at Yang's insistence.

"Ooooh, girl," she said, smoothing out the head on a snowman. It still looked lumpy and misshapen from their first disastrous attempt but at least now it was sort of head-shaped. "Why's Ruby pissed at you?"

"I don't know."

A gloved thumb shoved in two cheap marble for eyes. After a moment's hesitation, Yang added ten more. "Well, Ruby's hard to piss off for long. But if this lasted for like longer than an hour, you must have really hurt her feelings. My advice? Chocolate and a good long snuggle. She likes you already, it won't take much to patch things up if you're earnest about it. Or something."

"Or something," Weiss agreed faintly.

"What the hell is wrong with your snowman?" she heard Blake saying as she left.

**OoOoOo**

Most of the shops were closed for the holiday, but she did manage to wrangle a mug of hot chocolate from the kitchens when back on campus. Letting out a low breath, she focused some of the Dust from the handle of Myrtenaster. Excising just enough heat for her purposes, she kept the mug warm until she reached their room, knocking out of courtesy before coming in.

Ruby was curled up under the blankets up to her cheeks, a small bundle just barely visible from the doorway. She was in Weiss' bunk. Affection hit her with its usual starved fury, sharp as a hollow-tip point. Perching on the edge of the bed, Weiss put a hand on Ruby's back, feeling her warmth underneath the fabric. As always, she wanted more.

Instead she rubbed along her spine, soft and soothing. "Are you okay, Ruby?" was as good a place to start as any.

Struggling deeper into the blankets, Ruby didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry I made you upset." Moving up, she tugged the top of the sheet down to stroke Ruby's cheek. "Is there anything you need?"

At first Weiss was sure she'd get the silent treatment all night. Normally as giving free and giving as a bubbling stream, Ruby could be as bullheaded as Blake when the right mood struck her. "No," Ruby said, uncharacteristically subdued. A beat; "I'm just on my period and super cranky, I'm sorry."

That shocked a laugh out of Weiss, pure relief making her ten pounds lighter at once. Making an affronted noise, Ruby sat up, the blankets around her shoulders as she pouted at Weiss. "Don't laugh! It's not funny!" Frowning deeply and looking aside, she grumbled, "I mean, well, it's a little funny, but…."

"Anything that bothers you on your period bothers you off it, too." She pressed the mug against the tip of Ruby's nose, red from the cold. Someone had turned off the heater to conserve power, since most of the campus would be out on the town tonight anyway. "Ruby Rose, you're not fooling anyone. So spill."

Accepting the chocolate gratefully, Ruby downed half of it in one gulp before thinking to offer any to Weiss; she declined with a deferential hand gesture. "It just bugs me that you don't want to kiss me," Ruby mumbled around the rim of the mug before taking another sip. "I want to kiss you _all the time_ and you don't want to kiss me and it makes me feel awful."

Ruby finished her cup before venting any further, licking the foam from her upper lip while the gears visibly turned in her head. She seemed distracted, unfocused for a second to try and pull together all her thoughts. Then it hit her; she set the cocoa to the floor next to the bed and pulled the blankets tighter around herself. Thick fabric, muffling wool, pulled up over her nose as her gunmetal eyes glittered at Weiss with something close to shyness.

Then her spine softened, a sudden sadness making her turn aside, resolutely looking anywhere but at Weiss.

"I just want to love you, Weiss," she said, melancholy thicker than the blanket. "But you make it complicated. I just want to love you."

Weiss yanked the blanket down over Ruby's eyes. Ignoring a plaintive "hey!" she pulled Ruby into a hug, squeezing her close. Ruby didn't pull away, she never did. Ruby always wanted to give and give, to make her happy, and Weiss was terrified to accept it.

But she didn't know how to say that, so she just said, "I want to love you too."

Loving her was easy. That wasn't the problem. It was how to stop— Weiss didn't know if she could, if she wanted to. Taking Ruby's face, she kissed her, nearly falling apart at the soft, satisfied breath that came from Ruby's parted lips when she drew away. Chasing that sound, she kissed her again, harder, waiting for Ruby to protest, to give some kind of resistance, but there was none.

"You need to tell me when," she said, not liking her own voice. It sounded distant, like she was someone else, watching over this.

Tilting her head to the side, Ruby tugged Weiss down, throwing the blanket over them both. "When what?" she asked, snuggling into the hollow spaces, where their bodies fit together.

There was less space between them now, and it was still too much. Ruby's hips fit in her hands, small and narrow— all of her was so small, like Weiss could curl her up and take all of her between two palms, finally be able to touch her everywhere like she wanted to. Her grip tightened at the thought, desire sharp as a knife, sharp as her teeth struggling not to bite too hard. "When you want…. me …. to stop."

Ruby hummed thoughtfully. "Oh." Shoving her cold hands under the back of Weiss' bolero, she rubbed them against Weiss' skin to try and generate heat, a faint shiver rolling down her body. "Well, never, then."

She wished Ruby had kissed her lips next, or her face, anywhere but along the powder blue veins on her throat. A groan escaped her at the contact, pained with longing; Ruby giggled at it. "You can't say that. You can't say that."

"If _you_ want to stop, feel free," was Ruby's pragmatic solution. "But I'm okay. Kiss?"

Weiss obliged, after another moment of hesitation. She let her appetite run unchecked, given permission to take as much as she needed. Whether or not it would be enough to soothe the gnawing hunger inside her was left to be seen. Right now, she needed more skin, to hold her, kiss her, get as close as she could. Though she remained almost fully dressed, she was soaking wet just from the hint of pressure on her thighs, Ruby's fingers toying with the lacy edges of her stockings. Even inching her hands up Ruby's shirt, palming the small breasts there, didn't feel sexual so much as it felt primal. Like the instinct to breathe.

"Let me touch you," she said, sucking on whatever patch of skin happened to be closest to her mouth. There was only just enough time for a Sure before she rolled them over, pinning Ruby down underneath her. Her shirt squeezed over her head, hair mussed up and the corners of her gunmetal eyes crinkling in a smile. It was lost in a sudden gasp, eyebrows twitching up in surprise as Weiss took her by the waist, dragging her fingernails down the tanned skin of her hips. The elastic waistband of her pants went down an inch; she pulled them lower, bending down to nuzzle her face against Ruby's chest, drown in her scent.

"Uh—" Ruby said, and to Weiss' infinite relief she— stopped. Weiss froze, about to walk away and throw herself into the nearest snowbank when Ruby swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "Uh, you might not… I mean I kind of need those on."

A beat. "Oh." And then she remembered: "Oh! Of course." Thinking on it a moment, Weiss sat up, discarding her bolero and toeing off her boots before settling comfortably back on top of Ruby. She tucked her arms underneath her, holding her tight and sighing again. "It doesn't bother me."

Curious and exploratory, Ruby's hands groped around the top of her head until they found the latch on her hair piece. It tumbled down over her shoulders, pure snowy silk. "You're pretty."

"_You're_ pretty," Weiss countered, before ducking her hand low again to slip past the waistband of Ruby's pants. Constrained by the fabric, she felt the first wiry curls of slick pubic hair before she ventured deeper, rousing a loud gasp from Ruby.

"Weiss—"

"Do you want me to stop?" Weiss asked, focused intently on Ruby's face, scrunched up in confusion and pleasure, Ruby's body squirming under her touch. Wet as she was, Weiss couldn't tell how much of the mess that clung to her fingers was arousal and what was blood. It all felt good, if a little strange. "We could go into the shower if you're worried about a mess."

"I'm not— I'm not saying 'no', am I?" Ruby grit out between ragged panting. She didn't seem to know where to put her hands, stroking along Weiss' forearm as it worked between them, her chest, her face, her back. "Ah… that feels good. Feels_really_ good."

She worked on the pressure, swirling calloused fingers along the ring of her entrance before exploring higher, trying to find what worked best. Ruby's noises gave her guidance, the loudest one— "A-ah!"— sending a shock of pleasure down her own spine.

"There?" she wondered out loud, half to herself and half asking Ruby for confirmation. For her part, Ruby couldn't speak, whining low, barely audible. "Wish I could see what I was doing."

"_That_ would be too gross," Ruby grumbled, rolling her eyes before pulling a pillow over her face. She kept grumbling into the down, twisting her hips this way and that and making Weiss' job harder. "Of all the times to get over yourself, though… couldn't have waited a few more days?"

Taking the pillow, she yanked it aside to kiss her again. "Shh. Quiet unless you're not going to lecture me."

Ruby was quiet then, almost too quiet. It was only the sound of gasping after that, hard breaths and quiet affirmations to keep going. When she did come she stiffened up, holding Weiss by the back of the neck and letting out a deep moan. Trembling, not sure how to speak or what to say or if there was some sort of proper protocol for afterwards, Weiss just took Ruby's hand off the back of her neck and put it to her own thighs, giving her permission if she wanted to give back something of what Weiss had taken.

Did she really take anything, though? Was that the right word? Touching Ruby felt like eating her whole, putting her in her mouth and swallowing. She wanted to form some coherent thought but it was like flames licked at the insides of her skull, leaving it charred and disjointed. Ruby needed a lot less guidance than Weiss had, taking to this as quickly as she took to anything.

After hearing and feeling Ruby come underneath her there was hardly any work left to do; Ruby's fingers found her so wet her underwear had almost been soaked through. The first touches were more experimental than anything else, instincts dimmed in the wake of her own orgasm.

When Weiss' hips twitched forward eagerly, she felt Ruby's lips curl in a smirk. "Oh, okay," she said, more to herself than to Weiss. "Now I get it."

"I— I hope so," Weiss answered, or tried to answer, but instead the words fell over each other as she came, shamefully fast, her hand still showing Ruby where to touch. Boneless and limp, the ceaseless hunger in her had finally quieted down, left to nothing but a pleasant rumble in the background.

Ruby kissed her forehead.

"Was that okay?" she mumbled into Ruby's neck, feeling the jump of her pulse just underneath the skin. "Was I okay?"

"I dunno," Ruby said, sparking a bit of anxiety in Weiss' chest again before she realized Ruby was joking. "Feels like your technique was a little sloppy. I think we need to run that drill a few more times, partner."

She blew out her tongue, giving Ruby a loud raspberry before pulling her into another tight hug, not even caring about the bloodstains on her hand.


End file.
